Saturday, February 14, 2009
Madonna as Material Girl.............
It's been 24 years since Madonna told the world she's a 'Material Girl,' but the pop singer still fetches a high price. A full-frontal, nude photo of a 20-year-old Madonna went for $37,500 at auction Thursday, an apparent record auction price for a photograph of the singer - nude or otherwise.
Madonna Louise Ciccone was a dancer trying to make ends meet when she answered a newspaper ad seeking a nude model. She may have earned as little as $25 for the 1979 photo session. Christie's auction house expected to sell the photograph for up to $15,000; It was purchased by an unnamed European buyer for over twice the expected price.
Another photograph of Madonna, by Helmut Newton, sold Thursday for $18,750, beating a $15,000 estimate. In that shot, also sold to Playboy in the 1980s, Madonna sports lingerie, curly blond hair and a seductive expression. A man kneels beside her.
The Madonna photos were among 150 images, by some of the biggest names in photography, auctioned from the collection of Leon and Michaela Constantiner. They feature fashion and other celebrity icons.
The sale fetched more than $900,000 in all, including a top price of $242,500 for "Sie Kommen," Newton's images of nude models for the Italian and French versions of Vogue in the 1980s.
Usher's hot Wife Suffered Cardiac in Arrest
Tameka Raymond, the wife of R&B singer Usher, continues to recover in a Sao Paulo hospital after suffering complications from plastic surgery. A spokeswoman of the doctor who was to perform the procedure confirmed that Raymond had suffered a cardiac arrest while being anesthetized for the procedure "but was revived in less than a minute by heart massage."
Ellen Dastry, spokeswoman for plastic surgeon Silvio Sterman, says Tameka Raymond checked into the Sao Rafael Hospital last Friday for a "simple liposuction." Dastry said that Raymond suffered a cardiac arrest. She was revived, then placed in an induced coma before being taken to the intensive-care unit, a procedure Dastry said was "absolutely normal" and performed in order to "avoid unnecessary complications."
That same day Raymond was transferred to Sao Paulo's posh and better-equipped Sirio-Libanes Hospital where she is recovering, Dastry said without providing further details.
At Sirio-Libanes, a spokeswoman would only say that Raymond remains hospitalized. She explained that Raymond's family requested that no information regarding her condition be divulged by the hospital. She did not give her name, per hospital rules.
Usher was supposed to perform at music mogul Clive Davis' pre-Grammy party last Saturday, but backed out to come to Brazil to be with his wife. Davis made the announcement moments before Usher was slated to perform in the show. On Sunday, Davis told PEOPLE: "I talked to his mom. My thoughts are with them, whatever they’re facing."
The 30-year-old R&B star and his wife were married in August 2007. They have two young sons, 2-year-old Usher Raymond V and 2-month-old Naveid Ely Raymond.
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